Hold Dualities Together / 05 Aug 2022

Ukraine, Poland, and Me

Ukraine presents me with an interesting dilemma. I am moved by the tragedy of Russia’s war of aggression and the brutality with which the Russians prosecute it. For them, human suffering is a consideration to the extent that it can persuade their enemy to surrender. The Ukrainians are victims and pawns. But there is more to it than that. When the war began, a group of rabbis in Philadelphia went to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to attend Vespers on the eve of Lent and show our support for the Ukrainian people. As we approached the entrance of this beautiful space, a colleague quipped, “you know, historically, this didn’t end well for us.” And in fact, Jewish history in Ukraine is one characterized by Anti-Semitism. But our purpose was to show solidarity with those who are suffering. I admittedly have held an anti-Ukraine bias. My personal experiences there soon after the fall of the Soviet Union showed little change in attitudes towards Jews. Furthermore, I was from this place. My namesake fled the persecution for a life in the New World. My great-grandfather, David, worked hard from the moment he arrived here. In America, he had the opportunity to get ahead, feed his family, and keep them safe, at least from the next pogrom. Besides my prejudices, the war was over there, afflicting a bunch of people who weren’t very nice to mine. But the story is yet more complex. I am an American and a Jew, benefiting from the blessings this land has afforded me, not the least of which was the ability to become a rabbi offering spiritual and practical leadership. My rabbinate, serving as a chaplain and teacher, and my commitment to helping others make meaning through human relationships meant that historic grievance was not a valid reason…

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Book Club / 29 Jul 2022

Dear Radiant One: An Interview with Phoebe Leona

Phoebe Leona opens up about life, relationships, and her upcoming book.

Art & Culture / 21 Jul 2022

Evil Is Never Banal

A new documentary reveals how profoundly evil Adolf Eichmann was.

Inspiring Story, Mundane Into Sacred, This Week In Wisdom, Weekly Parsha / 14 Jul 2022

Torah Loves a Wise Donkey

The Torah reminds us to look to the wise animals.

Bring The Sacred Down To Earth, Inspiring Story, Science & Technology, Spirituality & Faith, This Week In Wisdom, Uncategorized, Weekly Parsha / 14 Jul 2022

The Stars in the Past Give Us a Powerful Present

Late Monday night and Tuesday morning, the James Webb Telescope showed its first images after its launch six months ago. And while the images from the Hubble telescope were incredible, these blow away even astronomers. As these images inspire everyone from NASA astrophysicists to ordinary laypeople, they remind us that seeing the size and scope of the universe never gets old. Stars have captured the human imagination for millennia, and we’ve often linked the workings of the heavens with the actions here on earth. In antiquity, the movement of the stars were often used for prophecy, which we also see in this week’s Torah portion, Balak. The prophet Balaam is hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelites, but instead blesses them. His most famous blessing says, “How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel” (24:5), but several verses later, he tells Balak that his kingdom will soon be destroyed because “A star rises from Jacob, a scepter comes forth from Israel.” (24:17) Balaam’s prophecy, and his language of stars, were thought to predict — or, more accurately, justify — the legitimacy of kings, rulers, and upcoming battles. In the text here, it speaks about how the Israelites will conquer the neighboring nations, and about a thousand years later, Rabbi Akiva helped encourage Simon bar Kosiba to help lead a rebellion against Rome in the 130’s, and renamed him “bar Kochba,” or “son of the star,” using that same text. But others saw a more universal perspective. Ibn Ezra, whose commentary tends to focus on the literal meaning of the text, takes the phrase to mean, “There are images of stars that step forth in the sky that never existed and were never known.” What an apt commentary for this week, as we now have images of…

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